Soon-to-be two-time Michigan Tech graduate Connor Zavislak is an Eagle Scout who found his calling on a baseball diamond in Royal Oak, Michigan. That’s where he discovered that, like another kind of diamond, he thrives when the heat is on and shines under pressure.
In May 2025, as finals wrapped up and campus quieted down,16 students from the College of Business traded their textbooks for passports and their backpacks for suitcases, swapping the Portage Canal for the hundreds of canals in the major port city of Hamburg, Germany. Alongside professors Junhong Min and Ulrich Schmelzle, they embarked on an in-depth exploration of global supply chain management, learning directly from industry giants such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Airbus, and more. (Photos courtesy Michigan Tech Study Abroad Germany)
Michigan Technological University’s annual Alumni Reunion is always special, but even more so this year as the College of Business prepares to honor two of our own. Robert J. Currey, a 1967 graduate in Business Administration, has been chosen to receive the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award. David Hartley, a 1971 Forestry graduate who served on the College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council from 2013-24, is being honored with the 2025 Outstanding Service Award.
The second-annual faculty-led study abroad to Germany, hosted by Dr. Ulrich Schmelzle, assistant professor of supply chain and operations management, exposed Huskies to new cultural and industrial experiences that shape their personal and professional worlds. Read a recount of their travels:
A group of Michigan Tech students participated in an inaugural faculty-led study abroad trip to Germany over the summer. Ulrich Schmelzle, assistant professor of supply chain and operations management in the Michigan Tech College of Business, led a group of eight Huskies to his hometown of Hamburg. This once-in-a-lifetime tour will have a positive impact on students’ future careers, and will return as a study abroad option for summer 2023.
“One of the objectives of the Germany experience is to prepare students for careers in a globalized and interconnected business environment,” says Schmelzle, who has two decades of international industry experience in semiconductor and aerospace fields. Increasingly, recruiters emphasize the need for students to develop intercultural skills and awareness about different business etiquette when dealing with business partners across the globe.